ISRO Chief Somnath claims in his book

ISRO Chief S Somnath has claimed that his promotion was stopped by former Indian Space Agency chief K Sivan. They did not want me to become the chief of the organization. According to media reports, he has mentioned this in his autobiography 'Nilavu Kudicha Simhangal'.

According to the report, Somnath has also mentioned the failure of Chandrayaan-2 in his book. He has written that Chandrayaan-2 failed due to haste. All the tests that were supposed to be done before the mission were not done.

However, on Saturday 4 November, Somnath spoke to PTI about this. He said that in the book I have told my journey till becoming ISRO Chief. Every person has to face many difficulties while reaching the highest position in any organization. I also faced similar problems.

He said that I have written about the challenges in my life. Have not made personal comments on anyone. I am not against any one person.

Correct information was not given on the failure of Chandrayaan-2
Somnath said that the mistakes made at the time of announcement of failure of Chandrayaan-2 were hidden. The communication system had failed at the time of landing, so it was clear that a crash landing would occur. But instead of telling the truth, the former Chief had announced that contact could not be established with the lander.

Somnath further said that whatever was happening during the mission should have been told in the same manner. The truth should come before the people. This brings transparency in the institute. That is why the failure of Chandrayaan-2 has been mentioned in the book.

He was kept away from Modi's welcome party
Somnath has also claimed in his book that PM Modi had come to ISRO on the day Chandrayaan-2 was about to land on the Moon. He was also kept away from his welcome group.

On this matter, K Sivan said that I have not seen what ISRO Chief Somnath has written about me in his autobiography. I am not aware of this. I have nothing to say on this.